The protests of the last several weeks have prompted much thought and reflection across our country and around the world. Words cannot express the anger and sadness we feel over the painful and senseless loss of countless Black lives due to injustice. Black Lives Matter, and we stand in solidarity with the Black Community, which has suffered systemic racism and inequity in our communities through generations.
We must stand for change.
This has been a time of reaching out and listening to our colleagues, particularly with those who are in distress. We believe that positive change can only come through open dialogue and making tangible changes. As a firm founded on the belief that design should have a positive impact on the people and places where we live and celebrate our diversity and inclusion, we realize there is still much we can do.
Perkins Eastman pledges our commitment to building a better future by advocating for diversity, equity, and inclusion in our communities and in our profession.
We announce the following commitments to expand our strategy for positive change:
- Expanding our support of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA), including both financial and active participation. As a signatory of the AIA’s Large Firm Roundtable’s recent letter to the NOMA, we pledge to “break down barriers and build greater access to opportunity in our profession”
- Expanding our scholarship program to support Historically Black Colleges and Universities as well as minority students
- Expanding our internship program for Black students as well as other minority students in all of our offices
- Expanding our outreach program and internships to high school students, promoting more awareness of our profession and advocacy to students in minority school districts. This will be in addition to our continued participation in the ACE Mentorship program
- Investing in educational resources for our employees to enhance their awareness and understanding of topics related to diversity, equity, and inclusion and provide tools to help them have productive dialogues with colleagues
- Continuing to promote minority leadership within the firm and providing mentorship to help our future leaders advance
- Expanding our commitment of days of service and other outreach initiatives in underserved communities
Continuing to pursue projects that will have a meaningful and positive impact on our communities and promote changes that improve our society. This will include investment in competitions or studies that address important social issues
While many of us will never understand what it’s like to experience the tragic impacts of racism or discrimination, we can use our platform to enact positive change—and we will.